Conference Speaker Biographies

Blain manages TransAlta’s global Commercial and Customer Relationships. His role includes overseeing partnerships, joint ventures, contracts, and revenue for TransAlta’s contracted and merchant facilities. In addition to Commercial and Customer relations, Blain also handles asset optimization, customer origination, forecasting, fuel supply strategy, and ESG sustainability goals for TransAlta’s business in Alberta. 

 Blain has 20 years of experience in deregulated power markets, having worked in roles ranging from Asset Optimization, Marketing, Proprietary Trading, and Dam Safety since his start at TransAlta in 2004. 

He holds a Bachelor of Science (Hons) and a Master of Science degree in Agricultural Economics from the University of Saskatchewan. Blain serves on the Calgary Stampede International Agriculture and Agri-Food Committee, which promotes and showcases Alberta’s agriculture sector to the world. 

Under her leadership, the IESO oversees the safe and reliable operation of Ontario’s bulk electricity system, ensuring affordable electricity is available when and where people need it.

As part of its mandate to plan and prepare for the future, the IESO works with sector partners to identify energy needs, develop supply options, drive innovation, and harness data and information for decision-making. The IESO also delivers energy efficiency and demand management programs that contribute to the cost-effectiveness and reliability of Ontario’s power system.

Throughout her career, Ms. Gallinger has focused on driving strategic change within complex organizations to deliver shareholder and stakeholder value. Prior to joining the IESO, she served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Elexicon Energy, a large municipally-owned electricity distributor in Ontario, which she led through a sizeable merger integration. She has also held senior roles in the electricity sector that include Chief Strategy and Financial Officer at the Electrical Safety Authority as well as VP, Corporate and Regulatory Affairs and Chief Financial Officer at Oakville Hydro.

Ms. Gallinger sits on several boards, including the Ontario Energy Network and the Nuclear Waste Management Organization. Prior to joining the IESO she also served on the boards of the Ontario Energy Association and the Electricity Distributors Association. She holds a Master of Business Administration from the Schulich School of Business at York University, is a Chartered Professional Accountant and a Certified Public Accountant (Illinois). She has also completed the Chartered Director and Audit Committee Certified program at the DeGroote School of Business, McMaster University.

Mr. Mitton is a Professional Engineer with over 20 years of experience in the power industry.  After first starting with MAXIM in 2005, Mr. Mitton has held increasingly senior positions and covered multiple facets of the organization, including operations, energy marketing, corporate development and finance, across multiple jurisdictions, including Alberta, ISO-New England, and PJM.  Mr. Mitton had a leading role in the divestment of MAXIM’s US business, and subsequent re-investment through the development and construction of the 300 MW Milner coal-to-CCGT repowering project in Alberta.   Prior to joining MAXIM, Mr. Mitton spent time with Alstom Power in Switzerland working in their gas turbine testing group.

Ruhee Ismail-Teja is a public affairs strategist specializing in government relations, policy, and strategic communications. She holds experience in private, public, and non-profit sectors. Through her career, she has focused on developing policy to enhance the vibrancy of Canada’s business sector, facilitate innovation and technology adoption, and support inclusive and sustainable economic growth.

Ruhee currently serves as Vice President, Policy and External Affairs, leading policy, advocacy, media relations, Indigenous economic reconciliation, and diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility for the Calgary Chamber of Commerce. She works directly with businesses, governments, and stakeholders to encourage policy adoption that strengthens the business community and the Calgary community at large. Ruhee has previously served as an economic advisor to the Government of Quebec, worked in government relations in post-secondary, and in the upstream energy industry. 

Ruhee is deeply involved in her community, currently serving on the Arts Commons Board of Directors and Max Bell School of Public Policy Advisory Board. She has also recently served on the YMCA Canada Board of Directors, ParticipACTION Board of Directors, Southern Alberta Institute of Technology Board of Governors and the Queen’s University Alma Mater Society Board of Directors.

Ruhee holds a Masters of Public Policy from the Max Bell School of Public Policy (McGill University), a Bachelor of Science (Honours) from Queen’s University, and a Governance Essentials Certificate from the Institute of Corporate Directors. Ruhee is also an avid runner and triathlete, visual artist, and pianist.

Tim has decades of experience at the most senior political levels, serving in senior Ministerial portfolios including Minister of Energy in Saskatchewan. In addition, he had a lengthy tenure formerly leading the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP). ​

He draws upon this experience to help lead high performing teams, set enterprise level strategy and to achieve results for clients.  Through this experience Tim has developed a unique and wide-ranging network of contacts in government, industry and business across Canada.  ​

Tim is an experienced communicator and understands the value of harnessing the power of the public and key stakeholders to achieve results across different sectors.​

Janine brings nearly 30 years of industry experience to her role as President and Chief Executive Officer of FortisAlberta. A long-time member of the Fortis Inc. family, Janine has developed a deep understanding of the regulated utility space in progressive leadership positions at both Newfoundland Power and FortisAlberta.

In her current role, Janine is responsible for ensuring FortisAlberta meets the evolving needs of its customers. Under her leadership, the company is focused on integrating reliability, affordability and sustainability to deliver value for customers and support economic growth in the communities it serves.

Janine serves on the Board of Directors of FortisBC, Electricity Canada, Western Energy Institute and CAREERS: The Next Generation, where she supports initiatives like the Registered Apprenticeship Program to connect youth with opportunities in skilled trades. She holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) from Memorial University and is a Chartered Professional Accountant in Alberta and Newfoundland and Labrador. She is also an inaugural member of Electricity Canada’s Women in Electricity Leadership Circle.

Originally from Newfoundland, Janine has proudly called Alberta home for almost 20 years. She has come to know the province well, whether through her regular visits to FortisAlberta’s 37 service points, spanning from Conklin to Coaldale, or by driving her two boys to hockey rinks across Alberta.

Horst Klinkenborg has over 20 years of experience in the electricity industry, he currently oversees all regulatory matters related to the electricity market at Suncor, a role he has held for 7 years. Previously, he worked in analytics and forecasting within the sector, using his analytical expertise to enhance Alberta’s electricity market rules and design.

Horst has prior experience in the financial sector as a quantitative analyst, having earned his “Diplom der Mathematik” from Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg in Germany.

Jack is responsible for executing agreements with utilities and trading partners that wish to own equity or transmission rights in the company’s portfolio of transmission projects.  

Prior to joining Grid United, Jack was responsible for arranging green electricity supply, energy storage, and hedges for global-scale e-fuel projects in North America.  Prior to joining HIF, Jack was President of Live Power (a wholly owned subsidiary of Yes Energy), which operates a proprietary network of patented sensors to measure power plant production and transmission line flows.  Previously, Jack was President of Apex CAES, LLC, a company focused on development of long duration energy storage.  Before joining Apex, he was Senior Vice President of Cinergy Corp., (now owned by Duke Energy) where he was responsible for the Power Trading and Marketing group with a significant physical trading presence and large Energy Management desk for third-party generation. Prior to joining Cinergy, Jack was President of the West Region at Reliant Resources (now owned by NRG Energy), which included a 5 GW generation portfolio in the southwest US. 

Jack graduated with highest honors from the University of Kentucky, and received an MBA from the Wharton School.  Between undergraduate and graduate school, he was an officer in the U.S. Army cavalry regiment assigned to patrolling and defense of the border between East and West Germany. 

Jennifer brings over 15 years of experience across the energy and electricity value chain, covering policy and regulatory advocacy, electricity markets, energy transition and carbon markets, regulatory compliance and environmental assessments. As the Director of Regulatory, Sustainability and Government Affairs for ATCO EnPower, Jennifer leads the government affairs, regulatory, carbon markets, environment and sustainability files for EnPower’s operating and growth businesses, and dedicates her time towards developing advocacy positions on key government policy matters critical to the electricity sector and other energy transition markets. She holds a Bachelor of Science from the University of Waterloo and a Master of Public Policy from the University of Calgary.

As Director, Regulatory at Capital Power, Matthew Davis represents Capital Power’s engagement with regulatory and policy agencies in Alberta and across western Canada. With over 15 years of experience, Matthew has developed forecasting models and strategic analytics for Alberta’s wholesale electricity market, and participated in numerous policy and regulatory engagements including: the AESO’s capacity market consultation, transmission developments and tariff design, provincial off-coal negotiations, and carbon, renewable and net-zero policies. Mr. Davis holds both a MSc and BSc in Statistics from the University of Calgary, and a PGDip (Honors) from the University of Otago.